Six tracks from Liverpool gothic alt-pop trio, The DSM IV, to supplement their 2023 debut album, New Age Paranoia.
Release Date: 31st January 2025
Label: 9 x 9 Records
Formats: Limited Edition Vinyl
THE DSM IV
Formed in Liverpool in 2018, The DSM IV are: founder, frontman and vocalist Guy McKnight, guitarist Jade O and drum machine/synth man Pav Cummins. Their name is taken from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Vol.IV), as used by the American Psychiatric Association. It’s a publication, and a subject, that resonates deeply with McKnight. He draws on his own experiences of dealing with mental health issues, along with those that have affected family members and friends.
McKnight, formerly frontman with Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, explains further: “Mental health problems still carry so much stigma, through ignorance, fear, misunderstanding and intolerance. I’m not necessarily an advocate, as such, for the limited categorization, labelling and medicating of people. I’ve no doubt it’s saved a lot of people too. The manual can be a contentious subject. Illness is a part of the human condition and the reality of life and death. It’s not something to be looked down on.”
As a manifesto, that’s pretty stark. It establishes expectations that have to be lived up to with every chord, every lyric and every gesture in the band’s music. On the evidence of Negative Utopia, that’s a standard that the DSM IV definitely achieve.
A LIVE SENSATION
Negative Utopia is a collection of six tracks. A set of previously unreleased songs, demos and remixes that didn’t make the final cut of the band’s 2023 debut album, New Age Paranoia. That album was recorded at The Libertines’ Albion Rooms HQ in Margate. Its reception led directly to a string of live dates supporting not just The Libertines but also Sleaford Mods and Dream Wife. Things are definitely starting to happen for The DSM IV.
The momentum that the band are enjoying is surely being accelerated by the impression that they make in the live forum. With McKnight’s wild gesticulations, Jade’s strident and incendiary guitar and the quasi-medieval stage presence of drummer Pav, they’re truly a sight to behold.
The DSM IV are touring right now. They’ll launching Negative Utopia at a show at Liverpool’s Rough Trade store on 7th February. Additional shows are scheduled at Voodoo Daddy’s, Norwich, on 1st February, The Golden in Todmorden on 23rd February, Green Door Store in Brighton on 1st March and the Tin Music And Arts venue, Coventry on 20th February.
NEGATIVE UTOPIA
So, what about the music? A funky drum rhythm is joined by Jade’s grungy guitar as opening track Pink Lady gets underway. Guy’s vocals are distinctly 80s in sound and inspiration and Pav’s synth licks have a similar 80s ring to them. Jade’s guitar is loud and confident, placing this music right at the punky end of the post-punk spectrum. As I listened, I realized that haven’t heard a drum machine in such a long, long time!
Smooth synth tones, backed by an authentic Peter Hook-like bassline provide the intro to Pray Like a Fool. Jade’s guitar is choppy and precise. Just below the surface, tones of Bowie are detectable in Guy’s vocals. The song’s chorus is an intriguing blast of cacophonous dystopia. The overall impact one of a warp-speed mélange of sonic confusion.
Jade plays a heavy metal lick, but Guy’s vocals inhabit another world altogether for Wise Guy. Pav’s synth simmers and seethes and his percussion is surprisingly light of touch. It’s a fascinating mix, and it works – and I love the unpredictability of Jade’s guitar solo.
RACIST MAN IN A BIG WHITE HOUSE
It was back in 2019 when, for Racist Man, Guy wrote the line: “There’s a racist man in the centre of the universe, in a big White House, telling me white lies” – a glaring reference to an orange fella in Washington DC. Now sadly, the orange cuckoo is back in his borrowed nest, so it’s wholly appropriate for that observation to be dusted down and given another airing. Guy sings the lines to a quickfire drum and synth rhythm, and his delivery is rammed with energy and belief – to good reason, I think we’d all agree…
Finally, on Isolation, the punchy combination of drumbeat and guitar, together with Pav’s swirling synth and vocals that sound as though they’re being radioed in from space. Almost guaranteed to make the fast, frantic arrangement a sure-fire live favourite. This short collection is brought to its close by the slow-building Pennywise Hologram Cowboy. Jade’s doom-laden guitar sits at direct odds with Pav’s melodic synth and Guy’s slowed-down vocal is thoroughly unsettling. Taken together, these elements produce a song that manages to be both threatening and reassuring at the same time.
A short collection, but there’s a lot to take in from Negative Utopia.
Watch the official video to the original (2019) version of Racist Man – a track that has been reworked and remixed for Negative Utopia – here:
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Categories: EP Review
The Coventry gig is at The Tin Music and Arts venue.
Cheers – noted and added.